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A review by eisneun
Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
3.0
Despite giving it only three stars, I did really like this book, especially the first 75% or so. As I continued past that mark, noticing fewer and fewer pages remaining, I began to think of how Petterson was going to wrap up this wonderful story in a satisfying manner.
Alas, the last part of the book was not what I was expecting -- in a bad way. I couldn't help comparing this novel to Norwegian Wood: both have a large gap in the main character's life after a traumatic event, almost completely devoid of details, yet for some reason Murakami pulls this off with Toru, and Petterson doesn't with Trond, in my opinion. The ending of Norwegian Wood is ambiguous, but there are only so many scenarios that would work for how his life turned out in the present. Trond's life is a black hole between the present and past; for all I know, he ran away and joined a circus, enlisted in the French Foreign Legion, then got a degree in Astrophysics from Oxford. The story became two bookends with no books in between.
Alas, the last part of the book was not what I was expecting -- in a bad way. I couldn't help comparing this novel to Norwegian Wood: both have a large gap in the main character's life after a traumatic event, almost completely devoid of details, yet for some reason Murakami pulls this off with Toru, and Petterson doesn't with Trond, in my opinion. The ending of Norwegian Wood is ambiguous, but there are only so many scenarios that would work for how his life turned out in the present. Trond's life is a black hole between the present and past; for all I know, he ran away and joined a circus, enlisted in the French Foreign Legion, then got a degree in Astrophysics from Oxford. The story became two bookends with no books in between.